Canyon High’s Ogle a star behind the plate for Oklahoma

By Brent Zwerneman bzwerneman@express-news.net

Updated 12:09 pm, Friday, June 3, 2011

An imposing statue of Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench resides just outside of Oklahoma City's Bricktown Ballpark, where Tyler Ogle, one-time Canyon High star, spent much of the past week with the Oklahoma baseball team.

Days before the Sooners' arrival for the Big 12 tournament, Ogle had been named a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, earned annually by the nation's top catcher. Perhaps someday a picture with the statue will be in order. For now, however, Ogle skipped on any poses for an item more pressing: trying to lead the Sooners back to the College World Series.

"It's an honor to be named with the finest in the country," said Ogle, All-Big 12 first-team catcher, of the Bench designation. "But right now, I can't harp on that individual stuff. I'm just trying to play hard with the rest of my team."

The second-seeded Sooners will face third-seeded Dallas Baptist at 2 p.m. today in the opening game of the Fort Worth regional. Top-seeded TCU and fourth-seeded Oral Roberts take the field at 7 p.m.

"They're just so well-rounded and balanced, and can throw so many weapons at you," Kansas State coach Brad Hill said of the Sooners, who made the CWS last season.

OU features offspring of one-time big leaguers Steve Buechele and Kevin Seitzer, in Garrett Buechele and Cameron Seitzer. But the most intimidating slugger in the Sooners' lineup is a stout young man from Garden Ridge who began catching when he was 9 years old.

"There weren't too many players in the Catholic Youth Organization who wanted to get behind the plate," Ogle said, chuckling. "So I did — and it kind of stuck."

His decision to go where others wouldn't had long-range implications on the Ogle family. Tyler's sister, Mandy, just wrapped up her freshman year of catching at Texas.

"It runs in the family," Mandy said. "I was always dragged along to Tyler's tournaments when I was younger. I'm sure it influenced me to watch him catching."

Last October, the two attended the annual rivalry football game between UT and OU in Dallas. He was decked in crimson and she, of course, sported burnt orange.

"People asked us a lot of questions," Mandy said, laughing. "They wanted to know what was going on here."

The duo's parents, Dan and Pat Ogle, couldn't be more proud of their children, no matter their catching gear's colors.

"Having two D-I college catchers is best described as surreal," Dan said. "... Friends playfully called our family 'Catchin' 'R' Us' in school and summer ball because for seven straight seasons, there was an Ogle catcher on a ball field someplace in San Antonio."

Following his junior year at Canyon, Tyler received interest from the likes of UTSA and Texas State. During his senior year, Baylor and LSU made overtures. Then OU called.

"You never venture too far north of the Red River when you're from San Antonio," Tyler said, grinning, of his then-unfamiliarity with Norman, Okla. "I visited and fell in love with the school and the atmosphere."

It's been a solid union. Last year in the NCAA tournament, Ogle led the Sooners with a .452 batting average. This season he's batting .349, fifth best in the Big 12, in guiding OU back into the postseason — making even his UT sister thrilled for his success.

"We're proud how Tyler and Mandy support each other first as family," Dan said, "and their respective programs a close second."